Fatty acids are an industrial commodity of commercial significance. Industries that consume large amounts of fatty acids include the grease and lubricant industry, the rubber industry, the soap and cosmetic industry, and the textile industry. Fatty acids can serve as activators, accelerators, softening agents, waxes, cooking oils, and numerous other commercially significant products.
The distillation of fatty acids presents many engineering challenges. For instance, fatty acid distillation often requires numerous intermediate separation steps that produce unwanted secondary products. These unwanted cuts must then be recycled by external processes that are cumbersome and inefficient. Furthermore, when the number of process steps increases, the amount of waste, resources, and plant equipment such as piping, tanks, and valves also increases. The fatty acid distillation process can also be complicated to control. Desired product purity levels can often only be achieved through the manipulation of numerous variables such as temperature, flow rate, pressure, and stream composition. This results in a process that requires more time and resources to operate.
Thus, there is a need for a simplified methods of distillation that can produce high purity fatty acid products in a minimum number of process steps and requires only minimum input for control.